FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb Announces Resignation

Gottlieb’s resignation becomes effective in April; no successor immediately named

March 5, 2019 — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., resigned from his position March 5 after two years on the job, but said he plans to stay on with the agency into April. According to several major news outlets, the primary reason for Gottlieb’s resignation is so that he can spend more time with his family at home in Connecticut; he had reportedly been commuting to Washington, D.C., throughout his tenure.

During his tenure, Gottlieb and the FDA approved a record number of generic medicines, new drugs and medical devices, according to the New York Times. The department also provided guidance on several key issues in the world of radiology, including:

3-D printing of medical devices;

Clearing the way for the first domestic supply of TC-99m, the most commonly used radioisotope in nuclear imaging; and

Cybersecurity for medical devices.

“All of us at HHS are proud of the remarkable work Commissioner Gottlieb has done at the FDA. He has been an exemplary public health leader, aggressive advocate for American patients, and passionate promoter of innovation. I will personally miss working with Scott on the important goals we share, and I know that is true for so many other members of the HHS family,” said Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar in a statement.

“Scott’s leadership inspired historic results from the FDA team, which delivered record approvals of both innovative treatments and affordable generic drugs, while advancing important policies to confront opioid addiction, tobacco and youth e-cigarette use, chronic disease, and more. The public health of our country is better off for the work Scott and the entire FDA team have done over the last two years,” Azar added.

"I’m immensely grateful for the opportunity to help lead this wonderful agency, for the support of my colleagues, for the public health goals we advanced together, and the strong support of @SecAzar and @realDonaldTrump - This has been a wonderful journey and parting is very hard,” Gottlieb said in a tweet responding to Azar’s statement.